Moral Responsibility and the Financial Crisis

A look at an economic disaster from a philosophical perspective

A decade after the financial crisis, this publication considered the event from the standpoint of philosophy. Moral Responsibility and the Financial Crisis is a Midwest Studies in Philosophy volume that applies analytic philosophy to finance. The issue discusses the normative and meta-ethical challenges brought to light by the crisis. It also explores the individual and collective responsibility for the harm caused during the global economic event. Introduction James Dempsey Tom Sorell 7

Responsibility in the Financial Crisis Tom Sorell 20

Some Tranching of Moral Responsibility Ascriptions to Individuals in Shadow Banking during the Financial Crisis Peter A. French 37

Collective Responsibility and the Purposes of Banks Steven Scalet 54

Banking Culture and Moral Responsibility for the Financial Crisis James Dempsey 73

The Moral Accountability of the Financial Industry for the Global Financial Crisis David Silver 95

Moral Culture and the Financial Crisis in Light of the Icelandic Experience Vilhjálmur Árnason Salvör Nordal 117

Who's Responsible? (It's Complicated.) Assigning Blame in the Wake of the Financial Crisis Kendy M. Hess 133

Risky Pay and the Financial Crisis: Who's Responsible? Jeffrey Moriarty 156

Mind the Gap: Virtue Ethics and the Financial Crisis Catherine Greene 174

Moral Responsibility for Large-Scale Events: The Difference between Climate Change and Economic Crises Boudewijn de Bruin 191

Blaming Ourselves Mark Hannam 213

Mistakes Were Made: The Role of Catallactic Bias in the Financial Crisis Joseph Heath 229

The Corruption of Financial Benchmarks: Individual and Collective Responsibility in the Global Banking Sector Seumas Miller 248

Democracy and the European Central Bank's Emergency Powers Jens van't Klooster 270

The Ethics of Consumer Credit: Balancing Wrongful Inclusion and Wrongful Exclusion Marco Meyer 294

Erratum 314